Thursday, 20 July 2017

Eunice Johnson & the Legendary Ebony Fashion Fair Fashion Show

“In somewhat of a cosmic manner straight out of a supernatural
couture galaxy, we felt like we visited the moon to view extraordinary
fashions from another lifetime.” Editor-in-chief, Allison Elizabeth
Brown, recently took her modeling/mentoring camp Mahogany Style Studios
to view and experience the traveling curation “Inspiring Beauty: 50
Years of Ebony Fashion Fair” at the prestigious George Washington
University’s Textile Museum. The capsule collection featured mesmerizing
memorabilia as well as key pieces from famed publishing giants John and
Eunice Johnson’s legendary fashion event.
The Chicago-based power couple, who amassed their fortune in the
early ’60s/’70s by creating both Ebony and Jet magazines, expanded their
indelible cultural imprint with the launch of the annual fashion show
fundraiser back in the 1950s. Eunice Johnson, who spearheaded the
endeavor, pioneered numerous innovations in the global world of fashion
for African Americans. Some of her significant accomplishments include
exposing renowned couture designers like Givenchy, Chloé, YSL, Alia, and
Valentino to African American audiences across the country, convincing
designers that African American models could and should wear bright
colors that were traditionally considered taboo for people of color.
She’s also believed to be the first person in the US to introduce
full-figured modeling and she even created the first nationally
recognized brand of African American makeup in response to the need for
adequate beauty products for people of color.
Over the course of five vibrant decades, Eunice Johnson raised over
$55M in charitable donations, discovered some of the most iconic African
American models to date, among them Pat Cleveland, who began her career
at the tender age of 16. Cleveland, along with a few of her Ebony
Fashion Fair contemporaries, were among the famed Battle of Versailles models who took Paris by storm in the early ’70s.
An activist, industry innovator, and philanthropist, Eunice Johnson
almost single-handily revolutionized the position of African Americans
as consumers in the minds of European designers, while simultaneously
cultivating an infectious craving for couture culture among affluent and
aspirational African Americans everywhere.
To learn more about the Fashion Fair Fashion Show legacy, click here. Also be sure to purchase the book “Inspiring Beauty: 50 Years of Ebony Fashion Fair,” as well as “The Battle of Versailles.”